Some thoughts please...

[mum2threemonsters]

Please bear with the figures as they are in UK pounds however I do believe its approx £1 to $1.50 to make calculations easier...

Hi

I am hoping I can ask all you DVC experts for some advice. My brain is always working overtime and I have had an idea to get more value out of my next vacation...

Basically I have booked OKW for 21 nights through Travel City Direct (Virgin) Aug/Sept 2013 with DDP. Total cost inc spends and tickets for Disney and Universal and tips will be £9477 for 2 adults and 3 children.

However... After this trip or during this trip we were hoping to buy in to DVC and this is where my brain started working overtime.

So far I have only paid £300 to TCD which is the amount I may lose... I have seen a DVC contract for 150 points OKW for a total (inc purchase costs) of £5400 before negotiations. I have worked out I could buy these points, MFs for 2013, calculated flights based on this August 2013 for 14 nights, QSDP and all park tickets(14 night Disney and Universal 2 park) with spends for £10,988 (this means a shorter, cheaper holiday but costing £1511 more) however when we return we will have paid for the contract in full and will feel better knowing that we are now owners of a 150 point OKW contract.

The original 3 week holiday was 'once in a lifetime' however we now know this would be the first of many... We had already decided DVC was the thing to do for our family.

We are also aware that prices for flights 2014 may not be in the same range as what I found today however we are not tied to taking the holiday Aug/Sept next year so if it meant a few more months saving for flights we would be ok.

What would you DVC experts think? Is a package holiday just throwing money down the drain when I am so close to being a fully paid member for the next 30 years?

 

[disneynutz]

How often do you plan to vacation at WDW and what size room do you get?

Bill

 

[mum2threemonsters]

We are planning to travel between every 18 and 24 months therefore we wouldnt neccesarily need a huge contract.

We are looking at the 5 bed studios/1bed at present at OKW, AKV and BLV. My youngest would be happy in the Pack and Play until Dec 2013. However as the children grow and we have more outlay in the future we would possibly add on another 150 point contract.

And again, if our salaries continue to increase we would then purchase further points as we would like 3 contracts to pass down to our children. However, for the sake of the next 5 years we would be happy with a studio or 1 bed and 150 points.

 

[disneynutz]

We are planning to travel between every 18 and 24 months therefore we wouldnt neccesarily need a huge contract.

We are looking at the 5 bed studios/1bed at present at OKW, AKV and BLV. My youngest would be happy in the Pack and Play until Dec 2013. However as the children grow and we have more outlay in the future we would possibly add on another 150 point contract.

And again, if our salaries continue to increase we would then purchase further points as we would like 3 contracts to pass down to our children. However, for the sake of the next 5 years we would be happy with a studio or 1 bed and 150 points.

We learned that just because we love Disney doesn't mean that our children do. Burdening them with an unwanted financial obligation like a timeshare is something to consider.

Bill

 

[DougEMG]

If it was me, I'd be putting the vacation money towards the DVC purchase. This assumes you've already gone through the analysis to determine that DVC works out for you.

I'm curious though, I thought that people from the UK got some really good discounts to WDW. Does DVC still beat those discounted packages.

 

[Kidanifan08]

I agree with Doug that I would put the money towards a DVC purchase as well, if you have decided that a WDW trip is in the works at least every other year. You have plenty of time to get through the process and get your points to plan a 2013 trip. In fact, you could spend another 2-3 months shopping the resales and probably be fine for an Aug 2013 trip to OKW.

Keep in mind that OKW contracts expire in 2042, so depending on your age and the age of your children, you will get 29 years (or 14-15 trips) out of your investment. If you want an ownership that will go longer, SSR contracts go through 2054, AKV 2057 and BLT 2060. There are some OKW contracts with 2057 extensions, but they are not easy to come by on the resale market. All 3 resorts are large and are generally easy to get into at 7 months for an August trip, so no matter which you buy, you should be able to try them all.

The SSR and AKV contracts may cost you $10-15 more per point, but it may be worth it to get an additional 12-15 years (6-7 trips). People have had success getting AKV in the low to mid-$60's for a 150 point contract. SSR has gone in the mid-$50's for that size contract. You would have no worries of passing ROFR with either of those resorts, whereas DVC has been nabbing OKW recently (ask Doug about that).

I guess one advantage to OKW is that it won't burden your children as long as the other resorts, as Bill pointed out.

Good luck with your decision!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

We are planning to travel between every 18 and 24 months therefore we wouldnt neccesarily need a huge contract.

We are looking at the 5 bed studios/1bed at present at OKW, AKV and BLV. My youngest would be happy in the Pack and Play until Dec 2013. However as the children grow and we have more outlay in the future we would possibly add on another 150 point contract.

And again, if our salaries continue to increase we would then purchase further points as we would like 3 contracts to pass down to our children. However, for the sake of the next 5 years we would be happy with a studio or 1 bed and 150 points.

One more time. Studios only sleep four. If your youngest is now two, you would need a one bedroom or two bedroom once that child turned three. So you can't count on the next five years in a studio. At best you could count on the next 18 months since it sounds like your youngest will be three in Dec 2013.

 

[mum2threemonsters]

One more time. Studios only sleep four. If your youngest is now two, you would need a one bedroom or two bedroom once that child turned three. So you can't count on the next five years in a studio. At best you could count on the next 18 months since it sounds like your youngest will be three in Dec 2013.

Thats why I quoted a studio or 1 bed. Our next trip would be a studio as DS2 would be 2 however thereafter we would need a 1 bed.

We have taken the advice on board, reevaluated our needs and realised that we will need a larger than planned contract in a few years time, however we are pretty certain that we would be able to finance this bar some major disaster!

 

[mum2threemonsters]

We learned that just because we love Disney doesn't mean that our children do. Burdening them with an unwanted financial obligation like a timeshare is something to consider.

Bill

Of course we do realise that and as we would be leaving them a fairly reasonable inheritence too the initial MFs would be of no major concern to them and if they chose to sell the contract then so be it.

If it was me, I'd be putting the vacation money towards the DVC purchase. This assumes you've already gone through the analysis to determine that DVC works out for you.

I'm curious though, I thought that people from the UK got some really good discounts to WDW. Does DVC still beat those discounted packages.

We have been through the figures and for us the concerns are that whilst the offers seem good on the surface a 3 week OKW trip with 'free(?)' DDP is still £7577 before spends, Universal tickets and all the other extras. Plus you need to book 18 months in advance so you rarely get a bargain flight. And these offers are only during low season.

DVC is more risky but offers us more flexibility even with booking at 11 months out. And as we all know these offers are not always guaranteed to last 30 years...

I agree with Doug that I would put the money towards a DVC purchase as well, if you have decided that a WDW trip is in the works at least every other year. You have plenty of time to get through the process and get your points to plan a 2013 trip. In fact, you could spend another 2-3 months shopping the resales and probably be fine for an Aug 2013 trip to OKW.

Keep in mind that OKW contracts expire in 2042, so depending on your age and the age of your children, you will get 29 years (or 14-15 trips) out of your investment. If you want an ownership that will go longer, SSR contracts go through 2054, AKV 2057 and BLT 2060. There are some OKW contracts with 2057 extensions, but they are not easy to come by on the resale market. All 3 resorts are large and are generally easy to get into at 7 months for an August trip, so no matter which you buy, you should be able to try them all.

The SSR and AKV contracts may cost you $10-15 more per point, but it may be worth it to get an additional 12-15 years (6-7 trips). People have had success getting AKV in the low to mid-$60's for a 150 point contract. SSR has gone in the mid-$50's for that size contract. You would have no worries of passing ROFR with either of those resorts, whereas DVC has been nabbing OKW recently (ask Doug about that).

I guess one advantage to OKW is that it won't burden your children as long as the other resorts, as Bill pointed out.

Good luck with your decision!!

Thankyou, this is the only issue I have. Iv seen an OKW contract for $53 and considering offering $50. I do feel that although in the long term this is not as good a deal as say AKV based on the length it is still a fairly good price in comparison to paying for a package holiday where I will never see the money again. I have looked at the ROFR thread and it is shocking how frequently they are not going through but Im quite open minded and if it didnt go through we could possibly plan to buy AKV and save for another few months thus putting the trip back a few months.

I always believe everything happens for a reason and my motto has usually worked...

Thanyou everyone.

 

[bdoleary]

It looks like you've given it a lot of thought and worked the numbers - I think given the realtively small additional cost - our plan makes a lot of sense. Good Luck!

 

[DizBub]

What would you DVC experts think? Is a package holiday just throwing money down the drain when I am so close to being a fully paid member for the next 30 years?

If you know you will be returning I find this a no-brainer. Seems to me that once you make the initial investment all you have to worry about are MFs. Some here consider MFs the devil/evil but I am not one of them. You may want to look into a resort that has "lower" MFs like SSR or even BLT. If you come at less busy times your chances at 7 months at other resorts like OKW and AKV are good. OKW has been being bought back (ROFRd) by Disney lately, especially if the price is under $55pp.

I know that your travel expenses can be very expensive but if you can manage to come every 18 months or every other year, bank and borrow, use your kitchen in a 1 bedroom, buy non-expiring tickets (can you do that?) you should be able to do this relatively on the cheap. Only you can know what you can and cannot afford and it sounds like you have given this plenty of thought.

Good luck and please let us know what you decide to do.

 

[mum2threemonsters]

If you know you will be returning I find this a no-brainer. Seems to me that once you make the initial investment all you have to worry about are MFs. Some here consider MFs the devil/evil but I am not one of them. You may want to look into a resort that has "lower" MFs like SSR or even BLT. If you come at less busy times your chances at 7 months at other resorts like OKW and AKV are good. OKW has been being bought back (ROFRd) by Disney lately, especially if the price is under $55pp.

I know that your travel expenses can be very expensive but if you can manage to come every 18 months or every other year, bank and borrow, use your kitchen in a 1 bedroom, buy non-expiring tickets (can you do that?) you should be able to do this relatively on the cheap. Only you can know what you can and cannot afford and it sounds like you have given this plenty of thought.

Good luck and please let us know what you decide to do.

I asked this question on this and a UK forum and whilst the majority of people have seen the reasoning behind my decision to purchase this year there have been several who have been dubious about me buying at a resort I have never visited.

This has led me to spend a long time considering the resorts and whether I was ready to choose a home resort.

However looking at the figures it does seem silly to turn away this opportunity and waste money on the package holiday. Will my children have worse memories by spending 3 weeks instead of 2 in Florida or will they remember I cooked in the villa or had the QSDP rather than the DDP? Personally if they did, I have brought them up wrong!!!

Therefore I have decided to go ahead and start hunting! I am worried that people may be right and I may hate the home resort but value wise the 2013 holiday (with a DVC initial purchase) will not cost much more relatively. So I havent much to lose but I have a lot to gain.

Resort wise, some good ponits have been made, mainly due to OKW short expiry date and choosing a resort I will love and basing it on several factors I am following my heart and choosing AKV. Our resort options were limited due to the 5 in a room rule, and whilst we could have 2 bedrooms in the future right now we would prefer to keep our points/per night ratio down. I am also happy to stay anywhere and experience any of the hotels so I am not too worried about availability.

I see it as I have a good opportunity and I feel lucky to be in this position and that financially this is affordable to my family.

If I end up making a wrong decision I dont believe I will have lost much, and with renting points and selling the contract back I am sure I would gain rather than lose!

Thankyou everyone, Im off to shop!

 

[standardgirl]

It seems like you're done lots of reading and have at least some understanding of how DVC works with points, etc. If you're indeed planning on going to WDW every 2 to 3 years, it sounds like a DVC purchase could work our for you. With bank and borrow, you can go as little as once every 3 years (or once every 4 years if you go when your UY renews). What I would keep in mind is that OKW is an older resort, and historically, older resort tend to have MF increasing at a higher rate. Would you be prepare to pay those in 5 or in 10 years of time? One further thing for you to consider, which in most cases is not relevant for US buyers, would be the currency risk. I know that 1.5GBP = USD is not exactly an aggressive exchange rate to based you calculations on. However, what if the Pounds fall further in relation to the Dollars? That would increase your cost in GBP terms which I assume is the currency you're paid at. Just one more thing to think about.

 

[mum2threemonsters]

Thankyou

The exchange rate is something that would always be a small concern, however both my fiancee and I are currently in a relatively stable career and financially stable. I understand this can always change in the future but with qualifications to our name we will hopefully only advance in our jobs.

Historically it was not too long ago the exchange rate was $2 to the £1 which would have made the MFs a breeze. Coming from a finance background I am aware of the chance of it falling or rising however investments involving currency are best taken over a large period of time to allow for good and bad periods. Therefore I am prepared for the bad times but hopefully there will also be some good times to counterbalance it over the lifetime of the contract.

Worst case scenario I would rent out the points and take my holidays in Europe.

PS thanks for pointing out the 4 year thing! Never even realised that was possible. It does make your head spin thinking about it but I can dream of the Grand Villas! hehe

 

[AlwaysDreamofDisney]

Just keep in mind that wherever you buy your points you can use them at all of the other resorts at 7 months out. But make sure you are NOT looking at the "value" rooms - these tend to go as soon as the 11 month window opens and they rarely get returned to inventory.

We have stayed at BLT 2 years in a row and are scheduled to stay for part of our upcoming trip in August. We couldn't get the resort for the whole 8 days only 4.

 

[zavandor]

You talked about having 2 instead of 3 weeks for your first trip. With a 150 points contract you can borrow a few points and still stay 3 weeks in Aug/Sept.
Since you plan to visit every 18 months you'll need to bank and borrow, otherwise you'll end up loosing points one time or another. This means longer trips every time you go to WDW but less frequent.

 

[mum2threemonsters]

I know I was playing with the figures and realised we could make this possible however the costs increase for food and spends and knowing my lot thats where it would get out of hand!

lol

 

[Kidanifan08]

. . . Resort wise, some good ponits have been made, mainly due to OKW short expiry date and choosing a resort I will love and basing it on several factors I am following my heart and choosing AKV. Our resort options were limited due to the 5 in a room rule, and whilst we could have 2 bedrooms in the future right now we would prefer to keep our points/per night ratio down. I am also happy to stay anywhere and experience any of the hotels so I am not too worried about availability.

I see it as I have a good opportunity and I feel lucky to be in this position and that financially this is affordable to my family.

If I end up making a wrong decision I dont believe I will have lost much, and with renting points and selling the contract back I am sure I would gain rather than lose!

Thankyou everyone, Im off to shop!

We have AKV as our home resort, and totally love it. Many feel that AKV is isolated and distant from the parks, but we have never felt like it was an unacceptably long trip to any of the parks. We have stayed at BLT and BWV and love being in the heart of the action, but at AKV we really relax. The savanna's are quiet and peaceful. The buses stop at Kidani first, so they are generally empty. The pools at Kidani and Jambo are awesome and the restaurants are among the best resort restaurants at WDW. It is true that AKV is often easy to get into for non-AKV owners at the 7 month mark, with the exception of the values and concierge. But, as AKV owners, the only resorts that we have not stayed at yet are VWL and BCV, and that is only because we have not tried. All resorts have times of the year that are more challenging than others (except SSR, that is).

There are a ton of AKV contracts available right now. Some of the sellers are probably a little upside down on their contract, so they may not negotiate much. We just finished a resale with The Timeshare Store for a 105 point AKV contract and got it for $67/pt. This was our third resale purchase through TTS, and they do a great job. Don't forget about the other resale sites (Fidelity and other unmentionables). Decide what you want to pay and then try putting in offers with different sellers until you find someone who meets your price.

You will want to think a little bit about use year. If you see yourself traveling in Aug/Sept most of the time, then June or Apr may be the best UY for you. This becomes important if you need to cancel. There are lots of threads about UY choice, and it is important to understand the implications before you buy.

Regarding "selling the contract back", there is really no one to sell it back to. You would have to list it with one of the resale companies and you will lose 10% of the sale price to the resale company (commission), in addition to whatever depreciation. At this point, all of the resorts are steadily losing value, so as soon as you sign, you have lost money. Despite that, it sounds like you have a good medium-range plan to use the points and you will likely get the value out of ownership.

Good luck "home" hunting!!

 

[Meggysmum]

We are also in the UK and love the flexibility DVC gives us. I wish we had bought years ago but that is the benefit of hindsight!

However one word or caution, don't assume you will love every resort. Before we bought in I was absolutely adamant that I wanted AK even though I had never visited. I just "knew" it would be the resort for me. DH wanted BLT but I over-ruled him since the points per stay at BLT were more.

Flashforward to our pre-purchase visit. As soon as we drove to AKV I knew I had made a mistake. I don't know why but I hated the look of the place and the journey and even though we had a good look round I couldn't take to it. DH was over the moon as we went to BLT the next day and I knew that we would love it.

We now have a direct contract at BLT and have just completed on a resale there as well. I loved being in the heart of the action and although I look forward to staying at the other resorts I know that I am always happy at BLT and the 11month advanatge is very handy.

My children are teenagers and love the fact that we now get 1-beds and they each get their own bed. Also my daughter is going away with a friend soon and I am so pleased that I could just gift them their accomodation for a great trip. Without that they would have ended up at a grubby motel somewhere rather than a deluxe resort in the heart of the magic!

We don't worry about the burden of the contracts to our children in the future. If they don't want them they can sell them but I am hoping to stay fit and healthy enough to be visiting WDW until my contract runs out